NB -- Richard Seltzer (together with Eric and Deb Ray) has written
a book about AltaVista, published by Osborne/McGraw-Hill. BUY IT HERE.
If you buy The AltaVista Search Revolution using this
link, you'll get the usual discount and service from Amazon.com,
and we'll get a small referral fee. That could help us pay some
bills and expand what we do for you. If you would like to get
in touch with Richard directly, you can reach him at seltzer@samizdat.com

Editorial Contacts: See End of Release

DIGITAL DEVELOPS INTERNET'S FIRST 'SUPER SPIDER'

...Millions of Web Users Expected to 'Kick the Tires' in Trial
Offer...

PALO ALTO, CA -- December 15, 1995 - Digital Equipment Corporation
today introduced the Internet's first "super spider"
software, as part of the most advanced information search and
indexing technology available for the World Wide Web. Blazing
fast, it conducts the most comprehensive search of the entire
Web text at speeds up to 100 times faster than spiders used in
conventional information search services.

Under development at Digital's Corporate Research Group here,
the technology promises to surpass the limitations of current
information services by delivering the most complete, precise,
and up-to-date information of the Web_s entire text. The technology's
super spider and super indexer employ next-generation software
and advanced networking, powered by the highest-performing 64-bit
Alpha computers.

The advanced technology is set to undergo its toughest testing
starting today (Friday, December 15), as Digital makes a "beta"
version available to tens of millions of Web users worldwide.
Users can test the super spider's Web index and provide feedback
through Digital's Internet address at: http://www.altavista.digital.com Thousands
of Digital employees worldwide are testing the new technology
behind the corporation's Internet firewall.

Cyber Search

"Finding a 'cyber needle' in an ever-growing 'cyber haystack'
has long been a dream of Web users," said Samuel H. Fuller,
vice president, Corporate Research. "This technology is a
major step in that direction. It features the most complete and
precise Web index. In fact, it's the only one with the potential
to keep up with the phenomenal growth of the Web," he added.

Fuller said the super spider has been crawling the Web at up to
2.5 million pages per day, and already has found and indexed more
information than any other spider or crawling service. It is enroute
to finding every page and indexing every word of text on the Web.
"We believe users will find Web pages they have never seen
through any other indexing technology," he added.

Digital said the technology has implications for market research
because of its precise search capabilities. For example, users
for the first time can pinpoint the exact number of_"hot-links"
or references to their home page from other Web sites.

What It Does

The super spider creates and dispatches a "brood of spiders"
that crawls the entire Web. Second-generation scalable software
simultaneously locates and indexes text as it finds Web pages.
A powerful search engine enables Web users to conduct precise
searches for specific information by looking for phrases, specifying
key words, using case-sensitive matches, and restricting searches
to titles or other parts of a document. Network connectivity is
provided through Digital's fiber optic and high-speed network
switching technologies. Ultra-high-speed search and indexing is
enabled by Digital's Alpha computers, the industry's highest-performing
64-bit servers. This powerful combination of software, networking,
and hardware overcomes the limitations of conventional spider/indexing
technologies. Patents are pending.

Fuller said current Internet search and indexing technology is
much slower due to the constraints of 32-bit technology. "Users
do not receive all of the information available on the entire
Web, and frequently miss entire documents. Digital's second-generation
technology indexes every word of every document," he added.

"Businesses will find this powerful indexing and search capability
will assist them in instantaneously locating information on markets,
customers, and competitors," said Rose Ann Giordano, vice
president of Digital's Internet Business Group. "This new
capability complements Digital's portfolio of industrial-strength
Internet servers, security, and service offerings.

Digital Equipment Corporation is the world's leader in open client/server
solutions from personal computing to integrated worldwide information
systems. Digital's scalable Alpha platforms, storage, networking,
software and services, together with industry-focused solutions
from business partners, help organizations compete and win in
today's global marketplace. Specific information on Digital's
Alpha and Intel platforms, storage, networking, software, and
services is available on the Internet and can be accessed through
the Digital home page: http://www.digital.com